Users Guide

Dell PowerConnect ArubaOS 5.0 | User Guide Access Points | 105
Virtual APs
APs advertise WLANs to wireless clients by sending out beacons and probe responses that contain the WLAN’s
SSID and supported authentication and data rates. When a wireless client associates to an AP, it sends traffic to
the AP’s Basic Service Set Identifier (BSSID) which is usually the AP’s MAC address.
In the Dell network, an AP uses a unique BSSID for each WLAN. Thus a physical AP can support multiple
WLANs. The WLAN configuration applied to a BSSID on an AP is called a virtual AP. You can configure and
apply multiple virtual APs to an AP group or to an individual AP.
You can configure virtual APs to provide different network access or services to users on the same physical
network. For example, you can configure a WLAN to provide access to guest users and another WLAN to provide
access to employee users through the same APs. You can also configure a WLAN that offers open authentication
and Captive Portal access with data rates of 1 and 2 Mbps and another WLAN that requires WPA authentication
with data rates of up to 11 Mbps. You can apply both virtual AP configurations to the same AP or an AP group
(see Figure 18).
Figure 18 Virtual AP Configurations Applied to the same AP
Configuring Profiles
In ArubaOS, related configuration parameters are grouped into a profile that you can apply as needed to an AP
group or to individual APs. This section lists each category of AP profiles that you can configure and apply to an
AP group or to an individual AP, and describes how the profiles are interrelated.
Each of the profiles described can be configured via the CLI or the WebUI. To see a full list of profiles available
in ArubaOS, select the Configuration tab in the WebUI and navigate to Advanced Services>All Profiles. The
All Profiles arranges group configuration profiles into six categories:
z “Wireless LAN Profiles” on page106
z “AP Profiles” on page107
z “QoS Profiles” on page108
z “RF Management Profiles” on page108
z “IDS Profiles” on page109
z “Mesh Profiles” on page109
z “Controller Profiles” on page110
Note: Once the ap-regroup command is executed, the AP automatically reboots. If the AP is powered off or otherwise not
connected to the network or controller, the executed command is queued until the AP is powered on or reconnected. Again, the
AP will automatically reboot as soon as the command is executed.
AP
Virtual AP
“employee” SSID
with WPA2
authentication
Virtual AP
“guest” SSID with
open system using
Captive Portal